* * *
With my new duties as head of the family, there’s absolutely no time to be in the play anymore, so I have to quit. Since they’ve been performing without me for a few shows, I figure it won’t be a big deal to simply cut the Hecate monologue permanently. When I call the stage manager, she isn’t thrilled, but she says she understands when I say I have family obligations. She tells me that they enjoy working with me, and that there are no hard feelings, I’m welcome to audition again for any of show they put on in the future. This makes me feel good, but I know that my theater career is over. I won’t be doing anymore plays.
While my father’s explanation of what happened to my mother is less than satisfactory, it does make sense. I want to find my mother, and I will. But right now, I have too much to worry about with keeping the business in line to spend time searching for her. I still also don’t know what’s been going on with the strengthened berserker virus, but I’ve decided I want to use as many of Brice’s charms as possible, since they don’t carry the virus. I’ll sleep better at night knowing that I’m not infecting people.
However, I’m not sure if Brice still wants to help me after the way I ran away from him the other night. I’m embarrassed, and I don’t want to face him, but I have to. I catch him in the parking lot after the show, because he’s usually in a good mood after a performance, and I’m hoping it will lessen any angry feelings he has towards me.
When I see him walk into the parking lot, I wave. I also realize I’m blushing.
He comes over to my car. “Olivia, why did you quit the play?”
“After my uncle died, my father made a decision. He declared me the head of the family. So I don’t have time for the play anymore.”
Brice raises his eyebrows. “You run the Calabrese crime family now?”
“Say that louder, please,” I mutter. I shift on my feet. “Look, about the other night. I’m sorry I—”
“Don’t be sorry. You were right to take off. We shouldn’t have...you know...”
I nod. “Right.” But I’m still confused about all of it. Anyway, I really don’t have time for boys now. So Brice and I will have to steer clear of each other. It’s the best thing.
“But I still don’t get why you had to quit the play,” Brice says. “It’s only a couple of hours a night. And you’re good, Olivia. You’re really talented. I think you’re throwing away an opportunity here.”
“I don’t have time.”
Brice shakes his head. “Maybe you should...” He looks at his shoes. “Maybe you don’t have to be the boss. Maybe you could do something else.”
I sigh. He doesn’t understand.
“Do you really want to be part of giving more people the virus?”
“Actually,” I say, “that’s why I’m here. I wondered if you were still up for making charms for me. Your charms don’t have the virus, so they’re safe, you know. I’d feel better if we were selling them instead of the others. Plus, there’s a demand in the theater district in the city. They’re selling really well. We could pay you, of course. I’ve already figured into our budget, and it would be under the table, so you wouldn’t have to report it.”
Brice bites his lip. “You’re asking me to basically go into the employ of the mob.”
“I’m asking you to help me the way you’ve been helping me. And I don’t want you to have to do it for free.”
“How much money are we talking about here?”
I tell him.
He whistles low and long. “Whoa.”
“You’d be doing work that we’ve been doing ourselves. You’d be saving me money, actually.”
“And I’d get to see you regularly. For business. Not because we were doing anything together, but because we were working together.”
I nod. “Yeah. I’d need you to enspell the product.”
“I guess if I had more money, I could move out of my parents’ house,” he says. I can tell he’s thinking it over. “It would be an easy job, and it wouldn’t interfere with auditions.”
“It definitely wouldn’t.”
“But it’s illegal, and I could go to jail.”
I shake my head. “You’re smalltime, Brice. They’d offer you a deal to name names.”
“So I’d have to rat you out.”
“You won’t get caught.”
He jams his hands into his pockets. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
I grin. “Thank you so much.” I’m so pleased that I hug him.
And it’s awkward, because maybe we hug for too long. Maybe we spend a little too much time searching each other’s eyes, each of us questioning the other if we should make another move. But the moment passes, and we step away from each other.
“You’re the best, Brice.”
“Sure,” he jokes. “When do I get paid?”
I open my trunk. “As soon as you zap these three boxes full of charms.”
He saunters over and puts his hand over one box. Blue sparks fly out of his hands. “You know, I have other charm ideas too. Maybe I could run them by you sometime.”
I nod enthusiastically. “Definitely.”
“You are going to take care of yourself, aren’t you, Olivia? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Chapter Eleven
When I explain to everyone in the family exactly what kind of charms I’ve been selling and where I’ve been selling them, most of the men think it’s a good idea. They recognize it as an untapped market where we have no competition. They applaud my innovation. I don’t let them know that it was Brice’s idea. If they found out I’d told things to someone who wasn’t part of the family, they’d think I was a traitor.
There’s only one group of people that doesn’t think the idea is great. That’s Vincent, of course, and his group of goons who follow him around. Vincent thinks that selling charms to theater goers goes completely against everything our family has set out to do. He thinks we should stick to tried and true methods that we’ve used for years.
I thank Vincent for his opinion and say that the success I’ve had with this thus far means that we’re going to try this new approach. Because Vincent is so high up in the family, I also give him half of the district to sell charms. I tell him to divide up the labor however he’d like and take whatever percentage of the profits he thinks is appropriate for his trouble.
I think I’m being more than fair by doing this. Vincent may be awful, but he did just lose his father, and I know that losing to me is really bothering him. I want him to understand that he’s still a valued member of the family and that he’s important to our work.
Apparently, I underestimate Vincent, because I find out later that he took the product I gave him and destroyed it. Furthermore, instead of working for the family, he and his goons spent the entire time drinking and gambling with family money. He’s directly disobeyed me.
I talk to Tommy about it. We are sitting in the deli in the evening. It’s just starting to get dark outside. I’m frustrated and exhausted. “Why would he do that?”
Tommy offers me a beer. This is strange, because I usually don’t drink with members of the family, since I’m young. But I take it as a sign that I’m an equal, so I pop the beer open and take a drink.
Tommy opens his own beer. “What else do you expect from Vincent? He’s already proven many times that he doesn’t respect you.”
Tommy’s right. I sigh. “I can’t let it slide. If the others see that I let Vincent act this way, I’ll lose all control. I have to do something.”
“You absolutely do,” says Tommy. “You have to show him that you’re the boss, and he’s not.”
“How do I do that? What would my father do?”
“Lucio? Well, that’s tough to say. Lucio isn’t exactly predictable if you know what I mean.” Tommy peels a little of the beer label off. “One time, I remember that Lucio had a kid working for him who was a low earner. He was family, so we couldn’t just kick him out, but Lucio though
t that whatever the kid did was completely unacceptable. One day, he called a meeting and basically told everyone in the family exactly what he thought of the kid. He said he was a loser who wasn’t going to amount to anything and that the kid was a waste of air.”
That was harsh. Vincent deserved something harsh, though. “What happened? Did the kid shape up?”
“Actually, the kid hung himself,” says Tommy.
I wince.
“I wouldn’t worry about Vincent committing suicide, though,” says Tommy. “He’s not the type.”
Tommy’s right. He’s not.
Saturday’s the day we get together and divvy up the money. When everyone’s there, I get up at the head of the table and make a big speech. I say, “I’m really pleased with the take this week. Everyone’s really stepped up to the plate and we’re raking in more money than we have in quite some time.” Then I go through each and every one of the higher ranked guys in the family and share how well they did and tell them what a great job they’ve done. I really lay it on thick. There’s a lot of back slapping and congratulations. Everyone seems pretty proud of themselves and glad with the new direction we’re heading in.
“And then,” I say finally, “we have Vincent. Now Vincent was chosen by my father as a possible leader for this family. He’s got the pedigree and the experience. He’s proven himself to be a high earner and hard worker. So, for Vincent, I have to admit, my expectations are just a little bit higher. If anyone can show everyone else how it’s done, it’ll be Vincent.”
I pause and everyone nods. They’re still feeling pretty good about themselves.
Vincent is sitting in the corner. His face is getting red.
“Or so I thought,” I say. “Imagine my surprise when I find out that Vincent not only didn’t bring any money in this week, but he actually lost money.”
Everyone turns to stare at Vincent.
Vincent clenches his teeth.
“That’s right,” I say. “The man who was almost the head of this family lost the family money. He spent the week drinking and gambling, and he’s got nothing to show for it. I can’t believe it, myself. That’s not how I’ve always seen Vincent.”
“Listen, bitch—” Vincent starts to say.
I interrupt him. “But I was wrong. I guess we can all see, though, why my father didn’t choose him to lead you. I guess we can see why my father decided that Vincent wasn’t cut out for the job.”
“You little—”
I interrupt Vincent again. “So, you can all be glad that my father is smart guy. If he’d picked Vincent over me, then you can imagine where this family would be in just a few weeks. We’d crash and burn. I guess we can be glad that Vincent never was the head of the family.”
Vincent is on his feet. His face is contorted. “You fucking cunt, you wouldn’t know what the head of a family looked like if it ate you out. I’ll never take orders from you. Never. I will head this family, and I’ll do a much better job that you ever will. I’ll do it if I have to kill you. Do you understand?”
Tommy speaks up. His voice is ice. “You want to be careful there, Vincent. You’re threatening the head of the Calabrese family here. We don’t take threats like that lightly.”
Vincent slams a hand on the table and leans forward. “She’s a little girl. And it’s her fault my father is dead. The Ercalonos shot back because of what she did to Joey. And why did she do that? Over another stupid cunt.”
Now Tressa’s father is on his feet. “You better watch your mouth, boy,” he says. “You may be hurting over what happened to your father, but there is no excuse—”
“Oh, fuck you all,” says Vincent. “You’re all wrapped around her apron strings.” And he stalks out of the deli, the back door crashing closed behind him.
The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One Page 28